A man, a city, a review
You arrive in Columbia much in the same way you arrived in Rapture in 2007′s Bioshock – Booker DeWitt comes to a lone lighthouse in the ocean and, once inside, ascends to the clouds in a scene all too reminiscent of your descent into the ocean. Only this time, you’re going up; instead of whales crossing your vision through the bathysphere porthole, you get massive airships and a city in the clouds.
The combat in Infinite is similar to previous Bioshock titles – you have Vigors, the analog for plasmids, and an array of weapons. You can also make use of the environment to lay traps, opens tears in reality to take advantage of cover, weapons, and medkits, and cruise around the arena on your skyhook executing lethal dives onto foes below. I say “arenas” because most of the games fighting takes place in much the same manner – you come in or out of a door into an open space and are assaulted by enemies, sometimes just basic ground troops with an assortment of ranged and melee weapons, but often a mix of light and heavy enemies, like the Patriot with its George Washington aesthetic and damaging crank rifle. You are free to deal with enemies however you please, earning achievements and personal satisfaction by getting headshots with specific weapons and combining your ranged, melee attacks, and varied plasmid powers. Many of your powers work to distract your enemies while you pelt them with bullets; managing your powers is easy, as you can instantly swap between two equipped powers (though they are all accessible at any time once you acquire them) and your two weapons. My favorite tactic was distracting the smaller enemies, by washing them away with torrents of water or pecking at their eyes with a murder of crows, so that I could focus on larger bullet sponges, like the agile hulk called the Handyman.
Another common situation for me was running out of ammo. Luckily the world is littered with lootable containers, vending machines that sell bullets and upgrades for both weapons and Vigors, and tears in the world that give you access to things like sniper rifles and RPGs. Rather than allowing you to get comfortable with only a few weapons, the game sets itself up for the player to take advantage of a variety of weapons; even still, I got through most of the game by using the assault weapons variants, like the machine gun, repeater, and carbine. I found the fully-upgraded pistol useful in the late game due to the large amount of ammo you can carry for it, and I took advantage of the volley gun and RPG when I had the chance. Like I said, my playstyle was to distract enemies while I shot at them, but all powers have a trap function that can be used to litter the battlefield with Infinite’s version of claymore mines.
A big part of the game is the well-designed combat, a huge upgrade from even Bioshock 2′s improvements over the original game’s combat. It’s fast, frantic, and easy to adapt to the playstyle of your choice. A greater part of the game is the presentation. Infinite is chock full of impressive vistas and cityscapes, huge “Oh, shit!”-moments and amazing details. The tears in the world explain the frequent use of anachronistic music adapted to the style of 1912 Columbia, such as the barbershop quartet version of “God Only Knows” by The Beach Boys. Want a Scott Joplin take on “Everybody Wants to Rule the World” by Tears for Fears? Good, this game’s got your back. The end of the game, where the final half-hour includes zero combat, is especially intense and thoughtful. If you recall the ending of Bioshock 2 which avoided the cliche boss encounter in favor of waves of baddies, the end fight in infinite is much more satisfying. It’s mechanically similar in that it is wave after wave of enemies, but the “tools” at your disposal are as fun to watch as they are to use.
Booker’s companion, Elizabeth, is one of the most useful AI buddies since Alyx Vance in Half-life 2. Though she never directly attacks enemies, she randomly gives you ammo, salts for your Vigors, health packs, and money. You can also command her to open tears that reveal helpful tools, like rocket turrets. She never gets in the way and you never have to protect her – the game tells you she can handle herself in combat, but what it means is that the enemies straight up ignore her. It would’ve been nice to see her handling herself like the game says, but instead she just hides behind walls and backs you up with items and tears. It works, I guess, in that she never gets in the way. She’s keen to point out items in the environment, comment on your behavior (“I hope you don’t plan on me following you in there!” she says, as you enter the men’s room), and pick locks on doors and safes for you. Outside of the story reasons, she’s a great addition to the gameplay.
Does Infinite live up to the hype? The media machine in the weeks up to release was at full force, with lead designer Ken Levine appearing on pretty much every media outlet, ever – where was Levine’s MTV Cribs episode that took place in his sky-mansion? Missed marketing opportunity right there. I’ll say this: Bioshock Infinite starts off 2013, the year of new consoles, just right and I think it’s a mixed bag as to whether or not it’ll end up being game of the year material. It’s a great game, yes, but if it’s the only great game this year (which seems unlikely!) then we are fucked.
Infinite is definitely worth experiencing – take it slow, absorb the sights and sounds, experiment with all the powers and weapons, and really just appreciate all the work that went into this massive beast that on the surface seems risky, new, and odd for a huge triple-A release. Sure it’s technically the third game in the series, but this is a release soaked in the buzz, hype, and anticipation usually reserved for Call of Duty games. It won’t sell as well, but I think it’s great that a creative dude like Levine gets to do crazy things like this – don’t get me wrong, I’d love to see what Ken Levine could do on Terry Cavanagh’s budget, but it’s fantastic to enjoy such a spectacle of a game like Bioshock Infinite.
